Rob G and the Blackberry Chronicles

What I have always admired about Rob is how genuine he is with people, his kindness, the way he percieves life, and through doing what he loves, has been able to see the world with a pair of rollerblades on his feet. You couldnt ask for much more.

Rob can skate almost anything, and can hold a royale for longer than anyone I have ever met. He is one of the people that has been around from the early days, is still pushing himself, and influencing what we do. He inspires the old generations and the young ones alike.

And um…. First IMYTA Champion.

-Jose
“I call what you are about to read my “Blackberry Chronicles.” What I
do is take any pictures I have from my blackberry, and write under
them whatever comes to mind. This is a fun excercise for me, and
allows me to do something else that is creative besides Rollerblade. I
try not to limit myself to just describing what is happening in the
photo, but also put anything else that my mind comes up with. Usually
what my mind randomly comes up with is more interesting then just
describing the photo. So, with out further ado, here is my a
documentation of my digital life.

So I will just start with this little ditty I found on the internet. I find it very inspiring and liberating to read. To me it bursts the bubble of people who take pride in separating themselves by their "originality," when in reality nothing is original and everything we do is somehow influenced by something, some influences being more noticable then others. I feel like the more influences we pull from, the more diverse we become as individuals, and the more "original" we become. I like to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open to absolutely anything I perceive that speaks to me no matter where it comes from. Things that inspire me heavily are positive friends, positive environments, music that strikes a chord within me, and quotations. And food, of course.

One time when my hair was short and I was visiting New York, I got invited by Greg at Tri-State Skate to a session at the Drop In Skatepark. Billy O'neil and I both went and had a blast...I wish I skated as good as Billy sometimes. I have that thought mainly just when I'm too busy thinking about "how much I suck" to do tricks that I have fun doing. Yes, I still get caught up in the comparison game every now and then. Whether its comparing myself to others or comparing myself to who I think I should be or how I should be skating. It's hard not to get caught up in it but sh*t still happens....ANYWAYS, enough of my random vent. Greg is a great dude that is doing great things at his great shop called Tri-State Skate. I was super impressed by all the Daily Breads he had. I think he pretty much had every single one just chillen in a Stack. Greg was soo cool, that he even gave us a ride all the way back to New York in his Mercedes powerd by vegetable oil. Cheers Greg.

This is a picture of the book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman. When I was super into all things self help, spiritual, and philosophical (all of which I still am), this book was recomended to me by Shane Coburn and it seriously changed my life. In fact, I don't know one person that hasn't read it that it didn't have the same affect on. This book is definitely "The Truth," and I would suggest it to any Blader looking looking to step their game up...or go crazy. As you can see from the picture though, it is called "El Guerrero Pacifico because I was looking at a Barnes and Noble in Puerto Rico. I thought it was cool because It has my last name "Guerrero" which in english means Warrior. I found out my last name meant Warrior when I was at science camp in the 5th grade.

I was walking around a campus in Puerto Rico and found a wall with all kinds of art work. I forgot what Tato said this means in spanish, but I just thought it was cool because it depicted Einstein as a science yogi...How come I still don't know spanish? I've been to Puerto Rico 3 times and I still haven't gotten then motivation to just do it. Everytime I go there I get clowned by some random person that finds out my last name is Guerrero and hears I don't speak spanish. I even claimed to my Dad and Ariel Surun that I was going to learn it on my last trip to film for Footage Tape with Kevin Dowling and Jamie Olmstead but didn't. My excuse for not knowing spanish is that my Dad speaks it, but since my mom and dad were divorced when I was growing up and I grew up with my Mom, I never got to learn it from him. That usually works, event though its B.S. I had 2 spanish classes in Highschool, but I didn't learn anything because all I thought about was Blading.

Here is a picture of Me and Jon Robinson at the Bitter Cold Showdown. Aside from Jon Julio and San Jose Filipino culture making me who I am today, Jon Robinson and midwest blading are also on that list of life influences/inspirations. Watching dudes like Jon, Dave Kollasch, Mark Nepple, Matt Hermanek, and Steve Thomas definitely had a big impact on my skating. Harvesting The Crust was one of the best skate videos ever and I believe at that time the Midwest had the most advanced skate scene on the planet. Thank you legends of the midwest, I salute you!

Whenever I get back home to San Jose, I go blading with Quang Do. Yes, Quang Do STILL rips. He also still rocks blading gear from the 90's which aside from him still skating is also highly inspirational. I don't even have any Fifty-50 gear left, and I used to be Pro for them! Those were the days...

Here is me and female Norcal Legend Dawn Everette. I met up with her one day at a 8am session at a skatepark in Northern California. Dawn is seriously still holding it down for 90's roots blading and skating better then ever. Last I heard though she was nursing a hurt knee. Hope you heal up soon Dawn!!!!

Here is a picture of me and my cousin Michael at Cal Skate in Milpitas California. Its an indoor Roller rink that I used to go every Friday night to with Jason Howard back in the early 90's. My cousin Michael rollerblades, so when I am home somtimes we will hit it up and and do circles for a few hours. There is something about going in circles on a really smooth surface with big wheels (110mm) that is very calming and meditative. I like to throw in some dance moves and practice my backwards blading when the right song strikes. My favorite thing to do is to watch is the older rollerskating folk who seamlessly dance/float around the floor.

Oh man talk about luck. The day before I leave to Paris, I slice open my hand while trying to eat a coconut. The cut was SUPER deep, and I was freaked out for a minute because I do not have health insurance. Luckily, there was a urgent care on the East side that said they could sew it for the discounted price of 280 dollars. Not having health insurance in America can be scary at times. I once got a puncture wound in my hand trying to do the 666 rail again , and the total price just to clean it was 500 bucks.

I was just in Paris Recently and got to see Taig Khris drop in next to the Eiffel Tower. It was pretty amazing to watch. Taig even made it possible for us to go to the platform where he dropped in from and look down. I couldn't even imagine myself doing it. Could not even fathom it. I've heard alot of mixed reviews on the internet about this feat that he performed. Things like whether it counted or not because he was not able to roll away cleanly. What I was impressed by the most, was how he was even able to make this dream/vision of his possible. One man made all of this possible. I thought that in itself was pretty amazing. Making dreams reality.

I was also in Germany recently and had the honor and pleasure to stay with none other then The Supreme German Ninja Bruno Loewe. To make things even more awesome, he came out skating with me at a new skatepark in Austria and killed it! His style was still impeccable, and skills were definatley still there. I hope this trip lit a fire under his ass and anyone else's that used to rip it "back in the day."

While in Germany, I was also very fortunate to be able to hang out with Jon Julio and his girlfriend Viola. He was visiting her after a European Valo tour so the timing was perfect. Viola is from Germany, so she acted as a perfect tour guide answering every question I had about what we were seeing. She was so knowledgable about everything that I started to ask her questions that didn't even pertain to Germany and she had answers! Thanks for the Tour Viola!

One of Violas friends met up with us in Munich and was on a bike. The seat looked really comfortable, and I asked her if I could push on it as it was supported by multiple springs. She asked if I wanted to ride it and without hesitation I said "yes." From there I took off and got semi lost for about 20 minutes. On purpose of course. Riding bikes in foreign cities/countries is one of the best feelings ever and if your out travelling somewhere new or different I highly suggest you find a friend with one and take it on an adventure. I wanted to get a good picture of myself on the bike in Munich so I passed by this window about 20 times in order to get this shot. The people across the street were looking at me like I was crazy. They were right.

This is the man who has been making all of my recent European trips possible. His name is Sami and he is a blader from the beginning years of blading as well as a Rollerblade Distributor out of Switzerland. After driving from Munich Germany to Zug Switzerland by myself (the autobahn was awesome) with nothing but a TomTom navigational system to guide me, I got to hang out with Sami at his home before driving the next day to Italy for some Rollerblade sales Meetings. Here is Sami picking some fresh greens from his garden which he then put into a Salad for us to eat. It was the freshest Salad I have ever had in my life. Thanks Sami!

Here is a picture of me my Dad and I at a Giants game in San Francisco. I have never been this close to the playing field before. Even though I don't watch baseball and am not a fan, being that close to the field and actually being there was a great experience. I used to play baseball when I was younger, but quit when I was in the 7th grade. In little league I got bumped up from minors to majors too early and never got used to how fast the ball was pitched. I was scared I was going to get hit EVERY single time I went to the plate. I only got 2 hits that entire year (which was my last year of playing) and they were both home runs over the fence against the same pitcher on the same team at the same field. My life is funny that way sometimes. Actually, a lot of the time.

I have been finding a lot of articles on the benefits of barefoot runnning lately, so after drinking some Mate' and doing some foam rolling I was inspired to give it a try around my neighborhood. It was a totally different experience, and aside from my calves being sore the few days after I absolutely loved it. The run itself felt more joyful as it made me feel like a little kid running around. If barefoot running becomes apart of my life (which I want it to be) I'm going to have to purchase some Vibram 5 fingers shoes which are minimalist shoes designed to mimic the feeling of being barefoot minus the hazards of cutting your feet up.

This is a picture of my Mother and I munching out on some raw dehydrated kale chips and vegan icecream. We found them at a Fair Trade Store in Morgan Hill CA that my mom had been wanting to visit for some time. I love raw, organic, and vegan snacks and deserts even though I myself am not completely raw or vegan

Everytime I visit the Rollerblade Office in New Hampshire for business, I take my per-diem check and pretty much spend it all at this food co-op in Vermont. I love the smell of Co-op's, and being able to purchase all the goods I love. As you can see in my hand, I also started drinking Coffee and feel pretty good about this decision. Its the super motivation elixir.

A couple weeks ago I was able to attend the wedding of Andy Kruse in Atlanta Georgia. It was truly a privilege to attend the wedding of a childhood blade role model. His wife was beautiful, and at the reception sang 2 songs to him. I also got to break it down on the Dance floor with Jon Julio, Jess Dyrenforth, and Brian Konoske. Great Times.

Kevin Dowlings family. This pictures sums it up. Kevin's son Kairo is hilarious and is always making us laugh. This time it was at dinner during my stay in Atlanta while handling some blade business. Kids do and say some of the darnedest things. According to apple mail the word "darnedest" is an actual word. I never knew that.

There is a huge Forever 21 screen in Time Square in New York that displays live video from the street. From left to right: random dude, Montre, Myself, and Kevin. We were just in New York filming for the Olympus "Your Story" Challenge that Kevin entered and is now filming for. If he wins, his video will be played over and over on a huge screen at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. We both firmly believe that it is going to win. If it doesn't win solely based on Montre Livingstons clips alone, it will be a huge surprise. I've never sessioned with Montre before, but could not believe what was happening before my eyes. He is like a kid in a play ground jumping, spinning, and sliding on everything in sight. He is actually this way on and off his blades, which makes him very fun to be around.

Flying out of New York back to California I saw this sign and started LOL'ing. When did snow globes become weapons of mass destruction? Terrorists are getting real creative these days.

To me this statement means that what we do as Americans defines America. Since I am basically living the American Dream, I am happy to represent this through Rollerblading and whatever I do when I am traveling outside the country as an American. Being American to me means having the freedom to express myself through this love of Rollerblading that I have, and having this love fuel my existence through the support of other Americans and people all over the world. I am independent, but dependent on the world around me in order to survive. Thanks for the support ya'll. Thanks for helping me make my American Dreams a reality. And with that, I'm out. See all of you around sometime.